BEND, OR -- The 24-year-old Bend woman who went missing in mid-February, has still not been found. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says even though there are no new leads in the disappearance of Sara Gomez, he hasn't lost hope. "Law enforcement continues to look for Sara Gomez. That won't stop until we find her." He also says there's nothing to indicate the main suspect in the case should be anyone other than her ex-boyfriend, Brian Penner. "We don't consider it a search for Sara's killer, but it is a search for her body. The family deserves to have her home, and we won't stop until they do." Penner died in an apparent suicide while in custody at the Deschutes County Jail in mid-March.
Even though it's been over a month, the case will remain open until Gomez is found, and Hummel hopes the community will continue to help search, "We chase down every tip we receive, so we encourage people to still contact the Police Department if they have any leads for us," he tells KBND News. "But, right now, there's no major leads, I would say, and we're relying on the public to help us out." Law enforcement agencies continue to coordinate with Gomez's family as searches are organized, "Law enforcement is definitely aware of the efforts of Sara's family to organize searches and we try to coordinate that because there's no need to search the same area multiple times."
